A unique blog dedicated to covering the worlds of book publishing and the news media, revealing creative ideas, practical strategies, interesting stories, and provocative opinions. Along the way, discover savvy but entertaining insights on book marketing, public relations, branding, and advertising from a veteran of two decades in the industry of book publishing publicity and marketing.

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Are You Too Smart To Be A Book Promoter?

Some
people are just too smart to promote themselves and their books to the news
media.

This
doesn’t mean only dumb people are good book promoters, but it does mean that
for some, ego, fear, or time constraints aside, there is a legitimate reason as
to why some authors make for terrible publicists.

·They
overthink and under act.

·They
read into everything and become paralyzed.

·They
overanalyze and underperform.

·They
over prepare and get boggeddown in
useless details.

The
best promoter is a blend of brains and guts—but not too much of each. You can’t
treat book publicity like a stock analyst looks at a potential investment. You
need to smile, put your best foot forward, and push others to do things they
lack motivation to do. You don’t have to out think another to succeed as a
promoter, but you do need to invest time in outreach and to be persistent.

The
intellectual side of authors can help them write great books but can doom them
as publicists. Authors need to do more than think, to act more than plan, to
experiment and diversify us, to not be conservative or so selective in our actions. The promoter needs
to get dirty and not constantly try to exercise without sweating.

Being
smart is not a negative but it can detract from an author’s efforts to be a
promoter. Smart people tend to have high standards for themselves but
mistakenly or unfairly expect others to support the same standards. Authors
shouldn’t project their values upon others.

Smart
people get caught up in details when generalities will do. They think they need
to use 300 words when 20 will do. They feel they need to substantiate a claim
with documented proof when just a mere assertion said with confidence will
suffice.

PR
is the hot body, not the brain behind it.

PR
is the surface, not the deep interior.

PR
is the book cover, not what comes after it.

PR
is color and feelings, not black and white facts.

PR
is the talk of potential and ideas, not anything real or provable.

PR
is the premise and hope, not the reality of loss, danger, or pain.

Smart
authors can’t change who they are, but they’ll need to hire a publicist to
do—and become—what they seemingly can’t. That’s okay. Brainiacs need to
recognize this and be smart enough to know that they must dumb it down and
utilize those who are comfortable acting in the theater of book publicity.
Promoters can help shape an image and create a visualization—but they don’t
need to be scientists who prove something is a certain way. The litmus test for
publicists is: can you persuade someone of something. They are not lawyers
looking to make a federal case to put someone away for murder.

However,
this does not mean publicists lack smarts. On the contrary, they are savvy and
even brilliant, but they have found a way to highlight their salesmanship over
their scholarship. The good promoter uses his brains to scheme, manipulate, and
present—he isa showman with
courage. He dives into the water, not questioning the temperature. He plays the
odds—the more you throw out to the media, the more likely some yesses will come
your way.

Smart
or dumb, the formula for achieving book publicity comes down to you—or your
advocate—to go out there, day in and day out, and to find a way to keep asking,
keep pushing and to never let the “no’s” bother you. Use your brainpower to
come up with brilliant pitches, be strategic as to who to approach, by what
means and when, and to creatively present yourself in the best possible
light—but don’t let it be a weapon against moving forward and being successful.

Being
smart means knowing when to dumb things down. Anyone can be a book
promoter—except a genius.

1 comment:

I've pretty much figured out that marketing is a talent, just like writing ability is -- you can learn the craft part, but you've still got to have something to begin with. A mindset, something. I wish I had that beginning point, but I don't. I'm trying to learn to make up for it, but I think you may have hit on why trying to learn the mindset is so hard.

About Me

Brian Feinblum, the creator and author of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, is the chief marketing officer for the nation's largest book promotions firm, Media Connect (www.Media-Connect.com), formerly Planned Television Arts, and has been involved in book publicity and marketing since 1989. He has served several book publishing companies as a publicist, book editor, and acquisitions editor. Brian, who earned a BA in English from Brooklyn College, became a published author in 1995 when he penned The Florida Homeowner, Condo and Co-Op Handbook. He resides in Westchester, New York with his wife, two young children, and an English Bulldog.